IAPF chairman Tom Finlay steps down

IRELAND – Tom Finlay, director at Bank of Ireland Asset Management and chairman of the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), is stepping down from both positions at the end of May to pursue other interests.

“ I don’t intend to retire, I intend to work in a different way,” says Finlay. “Part of this is a change in approach: I don’t intend to work for somebody else, I intend to be a one person operation and get involved in a couple of different areas.”

Finlay says he is considering various possibilities in management training, fund management, pensions and positions in not-for profit organisations. A qualified barrister, Finlay acquired a degree in management in the early 90s and says he may pursue a career in teaching or consultancy.

He was also responsible for client servicing in third party operations at the Irish International Financial Services Centre between 1989 and 1992, and is currently being offered a role as a non-executive director.

“ The third set of options is closer to home, in either the fund management business or the pensions world, which I’ve been very much involved in,” he says. “ It’s the one I’ve been most careful about, I don’t want to rush into things. The concept of independence in whatever I do is the important aspect.

Apart from paid job possibilities, Finlay says he is looking forward to spending more time on his voluntary positions at the finance committee of the Irish Council Society, an organisation that works in the deprived areas of the community.